It was probably during
the 13th century raids against the Arabs that the Mongols first
adopted the game of chess. The Mongol game, Shatar, takes its
name from the Arabic Shatranj. Since that time, Mongolian chess
has followed a unique pattern of evolution, mixing ancient,
modern and characteristically Mongolian influences.

The
Pieces

The Shatar playing pieces
show an unusual degree of artistic originality. The piece which
corresponds to our chess king – Noyon
– is usually depicted by a prince seated on a throne. But
the queen – Bers, meaning “snow
panther” – may be depicted as a mythical lion, a tiger,
a snow panther or a bull. The piece corresponding to the western
bishop is a two-humped camel – Teme.
And the piece corresponding to our knight is, not surprisingly,
a horse – Mori. But a great deal
of creative latitude is given to depiction of the Mongol rook –
Tereg, which means “cart.”
This piece may be represented by a horse-drawn cart, a portable
tent, a cart wheel, a karmic wheel, an Asian swastika, a yin-yang
symbol, a truck, an automobile, or even a bunch of flowers or peacock
feathers. The pawn – Fu, meaning
“child” – is always smaller than the other pieces,
and it can look like just about anything. It can be a smaller mythic
lion, a soldier, a smaller horse, a chicken, a rabbit, or just about
any small person or animal.

The
Moves

The
King (Noyon) moves one space in any direction.

The Rook (Tereg)
moves as many squares as it wishes forward, backward, left or right
until it reaches another piece or the end of the board. Exactly
like our western rook.

The Bishop (Teme)
moves just like our western bishop: any number of squares
diagonally, as long as its path is clear of other pieces.

The Knight (Mori)
also moves like its western counterpart: two spaces forward, backward,
right or left, plus one square at a right angle. It can not be blocked
by another piece.

The move of the Pawn
(Fu) is like that of the ancient pawn. It moves one square
forward when not capturing, but captures by moving one square forward/diagonally.
Unlike the modern western pawn, it has no option of moving two squares
on its first move – except in the opening move of the game
(described below). When the pawn reaches the far end of the board
it promotes, becoming a Queen (Bers).

The Queen (Bers)
has a move very rarely seen in the wide world of chess. It may move
like a rook, as far as it likes along any clear path, forward, backward,
left or right. Or it may move like a king, one space in any direction.

How
the Game is Played

The pieces are arranged
as shown above, in the same configuration as modern western
chess. The two kings must face each other directly across the
board. Either player may make the first move. The first player
must start by moving the pawn which stands in front of his queen
forward two spaces, and the second player must reply by doing
the same, so that the two queen pawns face each other. After
that initial mandatory opening, the players take turns, alternately
moving one piece at a time.

Winning
the Game

The game is won,
as in other forms of chess, by putting the opposing king into
a position of being threatened with capture (check), and unable
to move to safety – checkmate (Mongolian: Mat).
However, in Shatar, some very peculiar restrictions apply:

When the king is
threatened by a queen, rook or knight, it is called Shak.
When threatened by a bishop, it is called Tuk; and
when threatened by a pawn, it is called Tsod. These
all correspond to what we call “check,” and the
threatened player is obliged to move so that his King is no
longer under attack.

But in order to win
the game, the attacking player must use Shak (check
by queen, rook or knight), either in the final checkmating move,
or in the series of checks that leads directly to checkmate.

To make matters more
peculiar, the final move, which delivers checkmate,
can not be made by a knight – or the game is drawn.

Drawing
the Game

There are a few ways
the game can end with no winner:
if a king is checkmated with a knight giving the final check;
if there is no “Shak” check given in the
final checkmating sequence;
if one player is left with only a king, and no other pieces;
or
if both players agree that no win will be possible.